For The Love Of A Pirate
by chameleononplaid
Summary: *COMPLETE * Emma and Henry weren't the only ones exempt from the curse. What happens if Neal get to leave with them? And a certain pirate sneaks over the town line… This is more in line with a CaptainSwan story, than a Swanfire story, in case there is any question of which way this story may head.
1. Chapter 1

Authors's Note: Tale Set AU After Episode 3x11

Summary: Emma and Henry weren't the only ones exempt from the curse. What happens if Neal get to leave with them? And a certain pirate sneaks over the town line…

Disclaimer: I own non of these characters. Once upon a time characters are licensed and I can only hope that they give me artistic license to tel my story. *crossing fingers*

**Chapter 1**

"But everyone's lives sucked," Emma told Regina as they discussed the previous curse.

"They didn't have to. My gift to you is good memories. For you and for Henry. To have a good life." Regina reached out and included her son.

"But it won't be real."

"Your past may not, but your future certainly will be."

"Wait." Neal scurried over to the trio. "I…"

"Yes, Neal," Regina asked.

"I left the enchanted forest years before the curse ever took place. Even though I should technically go back to the Enchanted Forest, couldn't I go with Emma and Henry?" Neal stood there with his hands shoved into his pockets.

Emma could see that the prospect of going back to the Enchanted Forest scared the hell out of him, especially now with his father gone. "Regina?"

"Of course. Why didn't I think of that?" Regina reached out for Neal as well. "You, too, shall have good memories. You might not have all been together this whole time, but you will be a part of each other's lives. Now go. There isn't much time left." Regina squeezed Henry one last time. It couldn't be easy for her to know that she would never see her son again.

The three of them got into Emma's yellow VW. When Emma looked in the rear view she searched out for the faces she would miss the most if she could still have a lingering memory of them: her parents and Hook. Except Hook wasn't there. _Now where in the hell did that infuriating pirate go? Damn him. _She couldn't even get one last glance.

Finally, the green haze turned purple at Regina's hands and overtook the people she wanted to find her whole life. Before a tear could even slip from her eye, the whole reason she wanted to cry was taken from her.

"What's wrong, Emma," Neal asked. "Your eyes are all watery."

"Just thinking. I'm so glad you came with us on this trip. We all needed this one last road trip before we move to NY."

"Dad, I can't wait for us to get to your place."

"Well, you and your mom are welcome to stay as long as it takes until you find your new apartment." Neal reached back and ruffled his son's hair.

"Thanks, Neal. But I still feel bad taking advantage of you like this."

"Hey, it is the least I could do. Now that we found each other again, we need to stick together. Right, Buddy?"

"Sure thing, Dad."

Hook was flabbergasted. It was bad enough to lose Emma to some stupid curse, but to find out he could never find his way back to her _ever._ Then Neal had to chime in. _**Baelfire.**_ Of course he could go with them. _Bloody hellfire._

He couldn't watch. He couldn't stand there and see Emma, Henry and Neal all leave happily together. He had to leave now before he did something bloody stupid like hold onto Emma while Neal and Henry left.

Hook stormed off. His flask of rum clenched tightly within his palm. Maybe if he just stormed into the cloud before Regina got her bloody fingers on it he could lose his memories of Emma. It was his only chance of ever finding some semblance of happiness now that Rumplestiltskin was gone. Without love or vengeance what was the point to his continued existence?

Once that point snapped into his head, he switched directions. Hell with marching into the bloody cloud, he needed a cliff. A bloody high one, preferably with an extremely rocky ground below. That should put an end to his torment.

Taking a long swig of rum, he set out for his demise. Finding a really good spot to cut his long life somewhat shorter, Hook gazed back at the town through the trees. In doing so, he sees the purple haze trickling towards him. He closes his eyes. It was too late. He wasn't sure how it would feel to suddenly be transported back to the Enchanted Forest, but he felt nothing. After waiting what felt like an eternity, he opened his eyes. The purple cloud was fading away. Into the trees next to him. It never reached him.

_** It never reached him!**_

He had escaped the curse. He stood outside the purview of the bloody town line. He and Emma were still in the same realm. She could be found. There were not many time in all his years of life that he wanted to cry for joy, but this, this was one of them. He had escaped being separated from the one thing that would allow him to keep living. _His true love._

_ God! Bloody Emma Swan was his true love. _It was with thoughts of her upon his mind that kept him from being swept away along with the whole of Storybrooke. Now he just had to find her and make her remember him.

Author's Note: Chapter 2 is already written. I will probably type it up and load it in the next couple of days.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**: In the last chapter Emma, Neal and Henry left Storybrooke before the curse took over the town. Regina promised them all new memories together. Hook was upset that he wouldn't see Emma again and somehow missed being swept back into the Enchanted Forest with the rest. AU tale set after 3x11.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Once Upon a Time characters.

**Chapter 2**

Killian swore. Ths land was more cursed than Storybrooke. How many of these cursed land vessels occupied this dangerous place? He was already leary of them after his one run in left him in the hospital for a week, though in this land they were a necessary evil. But, also, it seemed this land was a lot larger than the Enchanted Forest, which consisted of multiple kingdoms.

He was losing hope of ever finding Emma after a month of searching. He had commandeered a sailing vessel after and endless search. At least with his head laying upon his new bed and the waves lapping the hull he was finally able to rest.

He had taken time to repaint and rename his new home so that the previous owner would be hard pressed to claim it, though it had not been an easy feat. Apparently in this land, boats were no longer made of wood, but a lot lighter to dry dock, in order for him to accomplish his goal.

He often wondered what became of the Jolly Roger. It was as close to his thoughts each day, as Emma was. His two loves. Both beautiful. Both lost to him at the moment.

Killian leaned back in his bunk, snaking upon the apple he had pocketed earlier. It seemed he needed to get a job in this new land. They were hard to come by from what he had seen of it. And frankly, from the one place he had approached, they did not take kindly to his piratanical clothes.

Standing up, he threw the remaining apple into the waste bin, and crossed to the small desk. Inside was a notebook and a pen, which he took out to create a list. He had been using it to keep his captain's log of each day, a habit he had long learned from his brother. He removed a sheet of paper and stuffed the notebook back inside. He sat down and jotted down his thoughts.

_** 1. New clothes were in order.**_

_** 2. A job to purchase such clothes, as well as food and something called gas to fuel his new boat.**_

_** 3. Find out what gas is and how to obtain it.**_

_** 4. FIND EMMA!**_

Emma had easily found work with a bail bonds agency in NY. They were impressed by her previous employment record in Boston. But it had taken a little over a month and a half for her and Henry to find just the right apartment in Manhattan.

Neal had offered to help them shop for new furniture, but Emma felt bad that he hadn't been able to reach his fiancé since they came back from their trip to Maine. She told him to take the time to search her out. Now as Emma stood in from of Walsh, the salesman at the furniture store,she was glad he hadn't come along. It felt so sweet that this guy was trying so hard to impress her. Except for the occasional date which was few and far between, Neal had been the last guy to really show interest in her and that had been before going to jail and having her son twelve years before.

It did somewhat surprise her when Walsh had seen to it their order was done two weeks early, but apparently that was in an attempt to see her again, because he asked her out. She couldn't help but blush. It was really one of the first times in her life a sweet normal guy had asked her out on a date. She guessed he sensed her nervousness and instead of asking her to dinner he asked her out to lunch. Surprising even herself, she had quickly said yes and planned to meet him in a week at a restaurant called Ostoria, not too far from her own apartment.

She had never been so nervous in her life. After she took several deep breaths, she rounded the corner to meet Walsh at the restaurant. His grin made her heart jump. But it didn't pound with excitement. It hadn't done that since… _Since when? _It felt like a far off memory she couldn't retrieve. Shaking her heard slightly at the wayward thought, she took Walsh's arm and entered the restaurant. It was a lovely place, but almost too romantic for a first date. _It was just lunch, not some candlelit dinner, Swan, _she reprimanded herself. _Swan, he had always called her that. Now where did that thought come from? _Who was this person who kept invading her thoughts?

Emma nearly toppled her wine glass at her errant thoughts. Walsh quickly grabbed and righted it. "Thanks."

"No problem, Emma. There is no need to feel nervous." His own hands shook for a second. " Okay, maybe a little nervous," he said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

Yet, Emma couldn't shake her nerves the whole date. She had even ordered an ice cream sundae. She didn't learn until they had been seeing each other a month that it had not even been on the menu and Walsh had bribed the staff to make one anyway.

Before long, six months had gone by since they moved to NY and Emma and Henry's lives settled into an easy routine. Henry loved his new school and, even though he was a bit hesitant at first, made quite a few friends. Emma had created a good relationship with the neighbor, and she watched over Henry whenever Emma worked late or had a date with Walsh. Neal had been devastated at the lack of information in the disappearance of his fiancé, Tamara, but still managed to make time for Henry whenever he could. It amazed Emma sometimes how easily Neal fit back into their lives after having him gone so long and with as much animosity she felt for him throughout the years for missing out on Henry and bailing on her.

Lately though, Emma kept having a sense that something was off. She refused to talk to Henry about it. She had brought it up once to Neal, but it seemed to just put him in a morose mood, so she backed off. Emma just wished she could shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **I am still not happy the way this chapter came out but after revamping it I do feel better about it than I did. But because of the changes I now have to go and revamp chapter 4 so that the chapters meet up. This is a busy week, so I am not exactly sure when I will have it up. Hopefully by the end of the week. Thank you to all of my followers. I am so glad that you are enjoying this story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Once Upon a Time characters.

**Chapter 3:**

Something terrible was about to happen. Killian was sure of it. It was a nagging feeling he just was not able to rid himself of all day.

"Killian," the woman purred into his ear. "Would you mind helping me for a minute?"

Hook knew that line. It wasn't in his benefit to refuse a superior even if she didn't have the best of intentions. He had quickly grown used to parrying the woman's innuendos, but today he had reached his limit. He often wondered how quickly Emma would have put this woman in her place with her snide comments and smooth comebacks to his own suggestive remarks.

He had been working for over five months on the U.S.S. Constitution in the Boston Harbor. Boston had seemed the most likely of places to search for Emma and Henry. It had been where she had last resided before moving to Storybrooke. Yet, after all this time, he had not found her. If it wasn't for his steady pay, providing him the available funds to supply himself with food and gas, he would have left long before as his search of Boston seemed to have come to a close after weeks of endless searching.

In fact it hadn't dawned on him until yesterday morning while talking to Donald Jenkins, the Human Resource manager,, that he should search New York. It had been where Baelfire…no Neal, had been living before coming to Storybrooke himself.

"Killian? Are you coming?"

Hook followed behind Miss Jennifer Miller, his immediate supervisor. If she didn't make his life such bloody misery, he might have appreciated the extra sway of her hips that she perpetrated for his benefit, or any other red-blooded male in the immediate vicinity. But just the thought of saying hips made him thing of the way Emma sauntered sway after their kiss in Neverland. Even if she hadn't told him to wait five minutes, there was no way he could have gone traipsing back to camp in his aroused state. Now that would have made her parents stand up and take notice of his intentions long before he announced them in Echo Cave.

"Killian," Jennifer snapped.

He jumped. Then tried to steady his nerves. He rubbed his ear and approached the woman carefully. She may come across as a lovely woman who went after what she wanted, but should someone shy away and deflect her advances… Well, then she became as dangerous as Blackbeard. Her acerbic tongue as cutting as Blackbeard's cat-o-nine on the back of any unlucky bastard who defied him.

"Miss Miller," Hook began before she could say another word," as well as I do appreciate all the consideration you have shown me during the time of my employ, I am quite sorry to inform you that yesterday I informed Mr. Jenkins of my intention to retire from my position as of the end of the week."

"You went over my head," she hissed. "How dare you."

Her blue eyes flashed the fury of losing her whipping boy. Her auburn hair caught the breeze, almost as if she was causing the air to cyclone around her with her rage. Killian had faced many men and stood his ground with ease of a man long used to fighting some of the worst evil the world could conjure up. He had helped stop Peter Pan and he had stood up to Rumplestiltskin and only lost his hand in the melee. Yet, this woman, made him take a step back from her building rage.

"So, your leaving us then, Killian? And where might I ask are you going?" Her voice may have been soft but the bite behind them could have skinned an advancing lion.

"New York."

"What is in New York that you haven't been able to find here?"

"I have tried putting you down easy, but my reasons are my own." Hook's temper was rising. His shift for the day was over in ten minutes, giving him the blessed relief of being able to walk away from this woman. As much as he had not wanted to anger her with still two more days to clock in, he did not wish to give this woman any more ammunition against him.

"Well then," she gave him a look, a look that threatened of things to come. "I wish you all the best for your new endeavors."

Killian seriously doubted her sincerity. He just didn't know how much he should have been watching his back.

It had been a rough day, but it was finally over. He no longer worked on the U.S.S. Constitution and now he could enact his plan to leave for New York the next morning. He decided to celebrate with a few rounds of rum from the bottle that he had purchased at the liquor store not far from where his boat was docked.

Rum was clearly a lot less potent in this realm, a more refined brew. He had selected a bottle with an audaciously dressed pirate gracing its label. It reminded him of the pompous ass Blackbeard. That scurvy letch was one person he would not miss should he never step back onto the waters of the Enchanted Forest again.

Sinking deeper into drink, Killian deviated his thoughts from fellow pirates to the piercing eyes of Emma Swan. Eyes that he soon hoped to gaze upon in the near future. Lips that called out to be devoured by his own even for a few brief seconds. Closing his eyes, he let his mind wonder over those thoughts as sleep welcomed him with open arms.

A puff of green smoke appeared in the room. Jennifer Miller appeared. Or Zelena. Or some would even call her the Wicked Witch of the West. She took in the form of the slumberous pirate casually postured across his desk.

It was really too bad that he had come this far and planned to go to the one place he would find his precious Emma Swan, and yet, would never reach her. With that thought, Zelena waved her arms and she and the pirate disappeared into a puff of glowing green smoke. Only the sound of her evil, merry laughter carried behind.

**Meanwhile in Manhattan**

Emma was exhausted. It was practically three in the morning when she stumbled into her apartment. The jackass bail jumper she had been after led her on a merry chase all over the city. It was a good thing Neal was over watching Henry tonight. She had seen Neal tucked up on their couch, as she kicked off her shoes and headed for her room. Too debilitated by the lack of sleep to do much else, she stripped off her jacket and lobbed it across the room at her dresser. Falling backwards unto her bed, she closed her eyes and embraced the oblivion of sleep.

Quickly her unconsciousness turned into a nightmare. She moaned and thrashed as she felt someone next to her. Emma heard a feminine laugh. Then she felt as though she was falling. Her heart pounded. It all felt so real. It wasn't until she felt like she was going to splatter on whatever ground was beneath her, that her heart felt like it was robbed of the thing she loved most.

"Hook," she screamed, as she bolted upright in bed. Emma's eyes darted around. She was safe in her own bed, but she still felt as though she lost someone. Someone very precious to her. Thinking of Henry, Emma leapt off the bed as a sleepy Henry crashed through her door, followed by a half-dressed Neal.

"Mom! Are you okay? I heard you scream." Henry rushed over to her. She crushed him to her chest and rubbed his hair as she heard Neal approach.

"Emma? Everything alright?"

She looked up and nodded. Neal responded in kind and inched back out of the room.

"Mom," Henry squeaked.

"Yes, kid?"

"Can you let go? I can't breathe," he sputtered.

"Sorry, kid." Emma relaxed her grip allowing Henry to step back, but she didn't let him go.

"You sure you are okay?" Henry looked up at her questioningly. He was quickly turning into a young man, but that wasn't what had scared her. No, she thought upon waking she had lost him.

_ Lost him or someone else, _her brain asked before she pushed the wayward thought aside.

She gave Henry one last squeeze. "I'm fine. Go back to bed, kid." Henry turned and left. She wished that she could take her own advice.

The next morning, Emma was making breakfast, as she watched Henry laughing with his best friend, Declan O'Malley, from the floor below, and Declan's younger brother, Sean. Neal had already left, shortly after her nightmare incident when he realized she couldn't go back to sleep and didn't want to talk.

The three boys got together at their place every Saturday morning for breakfast, so Emma could babysit the boys while Mrs. O'Malley shopped. Each Saturday, they watched Jake and the Neverland Pirates, supposedly only because it was Sean's favorite show. Emma had been surprised at first that Henry liked it, as he never cared for Peter Pan, claiming the movie gave him nightmares. Emma couldn't argue too much, because as a mother of a young son, something seemed off about a kid who stole other people's sons to keep him company. Same went for the Piped Piper of Hamlin, many stories claiming that he just ran off rats or snakes. No, the story the one kid from foster care liked to tell was that he made off with the neighboring kids. But that was a story different from Peter Pan and it wasn't like they lived anywhere near a place called Hamlin. The Hampton, yes. Hamlin, no. _Speaking of the Hamptons…_

Emma went over and grabbed the remote and paused the television, as Captain Hook was about to order Mr. Smee to do something. "Henry."

"Yes, Mom?" Henry and the two other boys looked up from their positions on the floor in front of the couch.

"When Mrs. O'Malley comes back from shopping, the three of you need to go down there and help her unload the groceries. I need to head out and do some paperwork at the precinct for the perp I brought in last night."

"Sure thing, Mom."

Emma looked up at the tv as she was about to unpause it. In the back of her mind, she didn't see the overbearing Captain Hook that was portrayed on the screen, but a man decked out in black leather, piercing blue eyes staring back, one eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips.

"Mom. Mom." Henry was standing in front of her waving his hand in front of her face. "Mom. You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, here." She handed him the remote. " I need to get the eggs off the stove before they burn."

She must be stressed out and working too hard. First, she had nightmares and now this. Maybe, she needed to get out of town. That was it. After she was done at the precinct, she and Henry could head over to Coney Island and relax for a few hours. Relieved that she had her thoughts back in order, Emma finished breakfast and sent them downstairs so she could get to work.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **I was able to finish this chapter faster than I thought, but Chapter 5 is giving me trouble. As it is Chapter 5 may be the last chapter to this story. It may push into a chapter 6 but I will have to see. I hope that all of you are enjoying my tale. I am so thankful for all the follows and favorites I have received. Since this is my first full story I would love to hear more reviews on how I am doing. Maybe help me be more confident about posting some of my other stories that I started on. Thank you so much to everyone.

**Disclosure: **I do not own any of the characters mentioned within this story. And I apologize for any misconceptions that I bring to their characters.

**Chapter 4:**

Walsh was expected at any minute. He was invited over for the first time for dinner with her and Henry a month ago and it was almost becoming a regular Friday night thing. Afterwards they sit down and watch one of the movies Henry wanted to rent for the weekend.

Emma quickly check on the lasagna in the oven and popped in a loaf of bread to warm up. "Henry put the plates and silverware on the table, please."

"Aw, Mom. I'm almost finished level eighteen." Henry barely gave her a glance, his concentration focused on the video game before him.

"Never mind. I'll do it, but your taking care of the laundry tomorrow."

"Mom!"

The doorbell rings, interrupting whatever else Henry might have said, as well as Emma's cell phone. _Grand Central Station here we come. _Grabbing her phone, she answers it as she reaches the door. "Hi, Neal. Come in, Walsh."

She gives Walsh a quick smile and a shrug of her shoulders as she ushers him inside. Mouthing the word _sorry, _as he passes by.

"Emma. Can you come over? I got a lead on Tamara and I want to get your opinion on whether or not it is legit."

"Walsh just got here and we are about to have dinner."

"I know, Friday night, Walsh. Henry told me, but if it wasn't important to get an answer, I wouldn't be calling."

Emma heaved a dramatic sigh. "Okay, Neal. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Great. I'll order pizza, you'll be hungry. Bring some beer, we might need it." With that he hung up. Emma was so tempted to throw her phone across the room.

"Walsh, I hate to ask, but can you watch Henry?"

Walsh looks up at her from his position on the couch next to Henry. "Yeah, sure. What's going on?"

"Just Neal has something. It has to do with Tamara. I need to help him out. It's the least I can do after he let us stay with him when we first moved here." Emma stood with her fists balled at her side, one hand clenched around her phone. It was so frustrating that she actually put in the effort to cook and she couldn't even enjoy it.

"That's fine." Walsh gets up and walks over to her. He kisses her gently on the forehead. "I know what I was getting into when we met. Neal is very much a part of your life and if he needs you, you need to help. Go. We'll be fine."

"Thanks, Walsh. I owe you one." Emma went to the kitchen and took out the bread and lasagna. "Everything's here. Henry know where all the dishes and stuff are. Help yourself to whatever else you need."

She walks over to Henry and ruffles his hair. "Gotta go help your dad. Be good, okay? And ten more minutes for the food to cool and after that the video game is over for the night. Got it, kid?"

"Yeah, Mom."

"Great you're here," Neal says distractedly as he opens the door holding a piece of paper he is actively reading.

"So, what is the bid emergency that I had to give up lasagna for pizza?"

"Did you cook it," Neal asked as he followed behind her into his apartment.

"Yes."

"Pizza's better."

"Shut up, Neal." Emma set the beer she brought down on his paper-strewn coffee table and reached for one of the pillows off Neal's couch, throwing it at him.

"Hey! This paper is important," Neal scolded as the pillow almost knocked it out of his hands.

Emma would have made a smart remark, but her eyes caught on a new picture hanging on Neal's wall. It was a sketch of a dark-haired woman, and it wasn't Tamara. She was quite beautiful, though. "Neal?"

"Yeah." Neal looked up from his paper at her.

"Who's that?" Emma gestured to the drawing.

"My mom," he replied sadly.

Emma turned to him, shocked. "You drew that?"

"Yeah. Don't know why, but I suddenly felt like seeing her face." Neal looked wistfully at the picture. "I'm still working on the one of my dad. It's been awhile since I drew anything."

"You hardly ever talk about them. Even when we were…well, you know."

"Well, as you know she died when I was young. It took me a month to finally get that one right. But, yeah, sketching has helped me deal with Tamara's disappearance."

"What was her name? You never said."

"Who?"

Emma gave a him a look, that seriously questioned his intelligence. "Your mom."

"Milah. Her name was Milah." Neal plopped down on the couch. Apparently talking about his parents was an extremely heavy topic. Emma sat next to him and grabbed his knee in comfort.

Suddenly, a tattoo flashed through Emma's head. "That's right. You have a heart tattoo with her name on your arm."

Neal looked at her strangely. "No, I don't. That's just creepy. Why would I have my mom's name tattooed on my arm? Mom, yes. Her actual name, that's a little Oedipus Rex, isn't it?" Neal gave a small chuckle, but the laughter didn't quite reach his eyes.

Emma just shook her head. "Yeah, that's crazy. Must be the last of sleep. I've been missing out on a lot of it dealing with the dumbass that I caught in Maryland yesterday." Emma laughed, but she was more confused than anything. She knew she saw a tattoo with Milah's name before, but where?

"So, what are we watching tonight, Henry," Walsh asked as he and Henry sat down on the couch after eating Emma's lasagna.

"Oz, the Great and Powerful."

Walsh choked on his wine. Spitting it back into the glass he just drank from. "What's your second choice?"

"I only go the one this weekend." Henry had gotten up to grab the dvd and put it in but had stopped at Walsh's question. He turned to Walsh. "Mom got one this time. You want to watch that instead?"

"What is it?"

"Storage 24. It's a horror movie."

Walsh was a little startled. "Your mom likes horror movies? She doesn't seem the type." She seemed more like the Kill Bill and action/adventure lover.

Henry laughed. "Yeah. Mom likes them. It's the romantic fluffy movies that scare her."

"Are you sure you are supposed to watch it?" Walsh gestured to the new dvd in Henry's hand.

Henry puts it in. "Sure. We watch it a lot. Mom thinks Colin O'Donoghue is HOT."

Henry gets up and settles back down on the couch, grabbing the remote he turns the movie on. Just a few minutes in Walsh asks, "Are you sure you are supposed to be watching this? It seems a little graphic."

"Nah. Just that part. Mom usually covers my eyes, but it isn't any big deal. I've watched this movie like ten times already with mom. I can even tell you what happens to Mark at the end that makes Mom cry."

"What happens? And who's Mark?"

"Not telling." Henry laughs. "Just watch the movie. By the way, Mark is Colin's character."

About ten minutes later, Henry pokes Walsh. "That's Colin O'Donoghue."

It takes a minute but Walsh gets a good look at the guy. "Shit."

It sure s hell was a good thing Zelena got Hook the hell out of this world if tat was the kind of guy Emma thought was _hot._

This bloody suit of armor was making him perspire. How the hell these bloody princes and knights wore these infernal contraptions as much as they did he would never know. Killian stood rooted to the spot upon the highway, trying not to flinch as the carriage and horses came barreling towards him.

His nerves were stretched thin. Smee and two of his crew lay in the woods awaiting his signal. Thank the gods for Smee. If he hadn't found Killian in that rat trap the bloody witch transported him to, he wasn't sure he would still be here today. So caught up in drink, Hook fought with any in his wake. Despair eating at him every single day. It was one thing to lose Milah to death. It was quite another to know your happiness was stolen from you by some unknown creature right as you were about to find it again.

So a pirate he became. Well, after Smee cleaned him up and gave him a purpose. Unfortunately, without the Jolly Roger and without being near a port to obtain another ship, they had to find another means to ascertain the needed gold to return them to their former glory. Thus, where this old suit of armor came in. It had been a bloody display piece in a tavern they stumbled upon. With Smee and the boys distracting the owner and his wife, Hook made off with the fifty pounds of steel.

Now all they had to do was convince the guards to give over their gold, by making them believe there was an army of people within the woods lining the road.

Killian drew his sword and did his best to keep the uncertainty out of his voice when the men challenged him, asking his name. "I am the man who's going to relieve you of that chest full of gold you are transporting."

"You and what army?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked," Hook gave the signal and the crew lit the torches. "Your choice, save your lives or the gold."

He barely watched them retreat when he lowered his sword arm and removed his helmet. He admonished Smee about the length of time it took to light the arrows, but he was just satisfied the ruse worked.

They opened the chest and were overjoyed by the fullness of the contents. "To the tavern to celebrate, boys," Hook announced.

Emma walked back into her apartment, glad to finally be away from Neal. She felt guilty feeling that way, but after three hours of constant lamenting about a woman she never met, Emma's head began to hurt.

"Emma, you're back," Walsh whispered as he approached.

"Henry asleep?" Emma was surprised by the quietness of the apartment. She was sure they would still be up watching Henry's movie.

"Yes. He didn't even finish the movie before he slumped over on the couch." Walsh pulled her over to the couch where Henry laid. "I didn't want to wake him, so I just left him there. I hope that is okay. I found a blanket in the hall closet to cover him with."

"No. That's fine. I'll just grab him a pillow from his bed and he'll be good for the night." Emma kicked off her shoes and padded to the kitchen for a glass of wine, Walsh following behind her.

"We missed you tonight. Maybe we can plan to meet up Sunday for lunch?"

Emma looked up at Walsh after taking a gulp of wine. "I wish we could. Henry has a big project to get done and I promised to finish my paperwork and have it faxed by Monday for that perp I caught in Maryland." Emma reached out and touched Walsh's arm. "Next time, I promise."

"Definitely. Get some rest. You look as tired as Henry. I'll see you Tuesday night." Walsh kissed her gently and turned to leave.

"Bye, Walsh. Thanks again for watching Henry," Emma called to him as he left the apartment. She locked the door behind him and walked back to turn on the tv. It was paused on Storage 24, right before it ended. Which was strange, because she was sure Henry really wanted to watch Oz, the Great and Powerful. Oh well, but she hated watching the ending of this movie, for more than the reason it left you wanting to know more. There was no way, despite all he did that Mark deserved the fate he was given.

She grabbed the remote took the dvd back to when Mark kissed Shelley. Now that was an image she could take with her before she went to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **Thank you for all of the follows. I hope you are all enjoying my tale. It seems to have taken a life of its own. I know for sure there will at least be two more chapters because I have already finished Chapter 6, but have yet to type it up. Hopefully, it will be ready before the end of the weekend. I apologize in advance for Emma being missing in this chapter.

**Disclosure: **I own none of the characters in this story. Thank you Adam and Eddie for coming up with such great characters.

**Chapter 5:**

Killian awoke to rain pounding down upon the deck of the Jolly Roger. He was disappointed because he ha been having such an incredible dream. He and Emma had just rescued the giant's compass, but the outcome of his dream was so much more satisfying then what actually happened.

"Cap'n, you're needed on deck, sir." Killian heard Smee mumble from the other side of the door.

"Be right there, Smee." Hook stretched and rose from his bed. He grabbed his leathers and dressed quickly, before applying his namesake. Proceeding up to the slippery deck, he grabbed the rope stretched across the deck to remain on his feet.

"Smee, tell the men to remain steady. We need to release the drogue. I feel that the storm shall pass quickly."

Smee issued the order to the crew while Hook reached the helm and held the Jolly steady so the crew could perform their tasks efficiently. Once the ship was secured as best as possible, he gave the order for whatever crew wasn't mandatory to retire to their bunks. There was no need to risk injury to his men.

The weather gave Hook plenty of time to ponder his future without the woman he loved. The woman who, with each passing day, was left with no memory of him. At least with Milah he had the chance to know she loved him back. With Emma, he only presumed she began to return his feelings and only because of her comment before she left Storybrooke, when he swore to think of her everyday.

Killian missed her each one of those days, but he pushed him back to return to his life as Hook. Emma made him remember the man he used to be before he became a pirate. The man he always dreamed he would become when he first set sail with his brother, Liam, all those years ago. But Killian was a soft man, who let his heart be destroyed by circumstances beyond his control. Hook, was a man who made plans and took action. He was a man who fought for what he wanted. And right now, he wanted Emma, so Hook he became.

Each day passed quickly, and it had been months since he had returned to sea with the Jolly Roger. Now it had almost been a year since he last looked upon Henry, Neal and Emma as they were about to embark on their journey outside of Storybrooke.

The rain slowed down, making Hook realize it wasn't just rain drops falling upon his hand. He let go of the ship's wheel, that had began to dig into his palm, and wiped his cheeks. Crying would not get him Emma back. A sure plan would. He just hadn't been able to come up with one yet.

"Hey, Henry. Come up with that plan yet," Neal asked his son as he entered Emma's apartment.

"What plan," Walsh inquired, looking between Emma's ex and her son.

"Operation Anaconda is still in effect, but we really shouldn't discuss it here." Henry glanced over at Walsh.

"Right," Neal responded. Apparently, Henry had some doubts about whether Walsh would be able to keep it a secret from Emma. Neal just had his doubts about Walsh, but it had nothing to do with Operation Anaconda. Something about the guy grated on Neal's nerves. Walsh was just so…perfect, all the damn time.

Neal followed him once. Okay, maybe more than once, to figure the guy out, but other than being who he claimed, Neal couldn't find anything wrong with the guy. So, he kept his thoughts to himself. Well, there was that one time Henry overheard him talking to one of his work buddies about Walsh. The second Neal realized Henry was there, however, he changed the subject.

"So, is anyone going to tell me what Operation Anaconda is about," Walsh questioned the two of them.

"Nothing important. Don't worry about it, buddy." Neal slapped Walsh on the back and the guy visibly flinched. "Well, we better go, Henry. I'm sure Walsh here has someplace lovely to take your mom."

Henry raced over and grabbed his backpack and his cell phone, over by where Walsh stood. "You still going to ask her next week, Walsh?"

"Hope to. Planning all the last minute details this weekend."

"Great! See you later."

Neal just nodded at Walsh and followed his son outside the apartment. Once the door closed behind them he couldn't hold his curiosity in any longer. " What the hell is he going to ask her?"

Hook was settled back into his life at sea. He might not have been as ecstatic as he thought he would be having the Jolly under his sea legs as he thought, but he wasn't despondent either. He and his crew had already plundered a few ships sailing once again under the flag of King George. As far as Hook knew, King George had been defeated before the curse hit. However, it seemed some remained loyal to the villainous king. It would almost be Hook's pleasure to capture the man on one of the ships and return him to Emma's parents.

His luck on that count had run aground, much as his plans of returning to Emma's world. As much as Hook tried to forget her, to forget himself, he was unable to let go of his recent past. The Dark One was gone and so was his reason for revenge. Other than his life on the high seas, his purpose was slowly dwindling. In a bloody week, it would be a year since he last laid eyes on his Swan. His princess. His dream for a bloody future.

Hook looked out to the horizon. Endless sea surrounded him. It was too lovely of a day to be thinking such morose thoughts. Flapping wings caught his attention. A pigeon, of all things, landed on the ship's wheel before him. Attached to its leg was a blue vial and a torn piece of cloth. After

taking them carefully off the bird, it flew away.

"What the bloody hell is this?" Hook unfolded the cloth. Hastily scrawled was the words: _Curse coming. Retrieve Emma. Memory potion._

It was happening again. The last time he had been protected by Cora, frozen for years in some sort of limbo. This time, if he was to do what the note demanded, he would have to be a little more resourceful all on his own.

"Smee!"

"Yes, Cap'n?" The man in the red hat came running.

"We make port as soon as possible. Give the crew orders that all hands are required on deck. Port should be around eight hours away. We make it in four."

"Cap'n," the little man pleaded, "It's nearly impossible…"

Hook cut his first mate off. "If you cannot comply with orders, Smee, I can gladly show the crew my sincerity by escorting you off the gangplank into Davy Jones' locker."  
>"Aye. Aye, Cap'n. I'll see to it the crew has your orders." Smee removed his cap and tugged it worriedly between his fingers, before turning to leave.<p>

"Thank you, Smee."

"Excuse me, Cap'n?" Smee glanced back at Hook.

"I said, thank you." Hook realized it wasn't something he would normally say to a member of his crew, but Killian was beginning to show through with the knowledge that Emma might be attainable again.

Smee gave him a brief smile. "Your welcome, Cap'n."

They made it in five hours. Hook barely released his crew when the lightning began. A huge cloud began to fill the horizon. Hook wouldn't have much time.

He quickly raced for the captain's quarters and plotted an approximate course to outrun the curse. After several trajectories, he determined his course. It would be a difficult journey manning the Jolly Roger by himself, but it was possible. He just had to leave NOW.

After raising the anchor, Hook released the mainsail. Tying down the appropriate ropes, he steered the Jolly out to sea. The cloud was getting too close. Time was of the essence. Hook did something that Killian hadn't done in a good long while, he prayed. He begged every god he could think of that would allow a strong wind to gather and propel him and the Jolly in the direction they needed to head.

The last words of prayer no sooner left his lips, as the top and mainsail expanded to full capacity. He could do this. He could outrun the curse once again, no magic involved.

By the time Hook steered the ship past where he determined he needed to find land, he was perspiring from all of his effort. The cloud just barely missing the Jolly's stern, as he steered her outside the purview of the curse. He leaned against the ship's wheel enthralled and exhausted. Hooked needed to release the anchor and rest. Tomorrow he would plot his course to find a way to get to Emma.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **Thank you for all of the people following my story. I hope all of you are enjoying it.

**Disclosures: **I own none of the characters, they belong to the Once Upon a Time franchise.

**Chapter 6:**

Hook was shipless, restless and homeless. His ship now was in the possession of a man he never hoped to cross paths with again, so the Jolly was as surely lost to him as Liam and Milah were. However, a glittery bean was clenched within his grasp. Irony, as this bean was a means to an end as much as the one that lead to his hooked hand.

His satchel, stuffed with a change of clothes, his wooden hand, the note and potion and Neal's address, which he had from his previous excursion to New York, flapped at his side. He hurried to an unoccupied area of the dock. Giving the bean a quick kiss, he threw it and opened the portal that would lead him to Emma. Never once looking back at the ship that was his home for the past three hundred yeas, he stepped within the glowing void.

"Mom, we're going to be late," Henry called through the bedroom door. "Dad was expecting us at six."

"Be right there, kid." Emma grabbed her coat and shoes. How Neal convinced them to come over to his place for dinner she would never know. Emma opened her door and went into the living room where Henry now waited. "Alright, let's go."

"Wait," Henry called behind her as she grabbed her keys and phone.

"What happened," Emma asked as she turned toward her son.

"Just got a text from Dad. He said an old friend stopped by and he'd have to cancel." Henry looked up at her from his phone.

"Seriously?" Emma was exasperated. This day had been one shit-storm after another. And if she hadn't promised Henry about going to his dad's, she would probably still be out searching for her most recent bail jumper. "Guess we're having pizza. Wanna call it in?"

"Sure, Mom. Can I get my half meat lovers with pineapple?" Henry could seem to contain his excitement at the prospect.

"That just gross, but I guess, kid. I'm going to go back and change into some sweats. I'll make a run to the drug store for a movie while we wait for the order." Emma turned to head back to her room.

"Okay, but no girly movies, unless it's Frozen. Been wanting to watch it, but it's not exactly a movie the guys want to watch." Emma couldn't help but laugh at her son's comment. He was definitely growing up way too fast.

"Hook," Neal exclaimed as he opened his door.

"Baelfire."

Neal searched behind the pirate he hadn't laid eyes on in almost a hundred years. "What the hell?"

"Can I come in?" Hook shuffled uncomfortably.

Neal waved the man inside, looking outside again, just o see if there was anyone else. "How did you find me? If you found me, does my father know where I am?"

Hook turned toward Neal, after he entered the apartment. "You probably don't remember, but I was here before, over a year ago. It's a long story."

"Sit down, man. You look exhausted." Neal waved at his couch indicating the man should sit down.

"You have no idea, and considering I wasn't sure of my welcome…"

"We didn't part on the best of circumstances, I know." Neal sat in the chair next to the couch the pirate now occupied.

"You remember?" Hook looked at him hopefully.

"That you turned me over to Pan and I spent years there trying to get off that bloody island? Yeah, can't exactly forget that."  
>"Oh." Hook appeared as if Neal stole the wind from his sails. It seemed that the pirate thought Neal should have remembered more.<p>

His cell phone chimed. "Hold on a sec," Neal said. Grabbing it he instantly recognized the number. "It's a text from my son, Henry."

"I know exactly who Henry is," Hook mumbled just loud enough for Neal to hear.

"You do? How?" Neal shot a text message back to Henry asking to cancel their dinner for that night, hoping the kid would understand.

"I told you, we saw each other a year ago. We rescued him from Neverland." Hook seemed to take an avid interest in his namesake all of a sudden.

"Henry was on Neverland?" Neal tried to control the anger that raged over him. "Pan had him. Was he the boy that Pan sought?"

"Yes." Hook looked up at Neal standing over him. "He's fine now. Well, I am assuming he's fine now, as I haven't laid eyes on him in over a year. We defeated Pan in Storybrooke."

"Storybrooke?"

"It's a town in Maine. There was a curse. Your father had Regina, the Evil Queen, cast it, so that he could come to his land and find you."

Neal plopped down on the couch next to the leather clad man. His father was trying to find him. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or scared. At least in this land his father wouldn't be able to wield his dark magic.

"So, who exactly is the Evil Queen? As you know, it's been years since I was there. Will she help my father find me?" Neal rested his head in his hands. This day was not going according to plan at all. So much for Operation Anaconda. It was supposed to be a nice surprise for Emma's birthday. Her present from him and Henry rested on his bed. Chinese food, cooling quickly in his kitchen, forgotten about.

"He already found you," Hook deadpanned.

Neal's head popped up. "He did? Why can't I remember any of this?"

"Pan. Pan is the reason. Well, not the sole reason, but definitely the main reason. He discovered Regina's curse."

"Well, if there already was a curse, how could he do anything?" Neal was confused.

"Emma broke it."

"Emma? What the hell does Emma have to do with any of this?" Neal jumped out of his seat.

"She's the Savior. She had been destined by your father to break the curse, or so I was told."

Neal glanced down at the pirate. There was something in the way he talked about Emma that Neal couldn't put his finger on, but that wasn't as important as his next question. "How on hell's green Earth do you know Emma?"

"Okay," Hook said with a sigh. "This is going to take some explanation, so bear with me." Hook looked to him for confirmation and Neal nodded his consent.

"I met Emma in the Enchanted Forest. Yes, yes, I know how in the bloody hell did she get there?" Hook waved his hand at him. " I need to start at the beginning for you to get the whole thing."

"Regina, she's the Evil Queen, cast a curse, one that your father discovered years before that would allow him to follow you to this land. She's the step-mother of Snow White, who happens to be Emma's mother." Neal was about to interrupt again but Hook silenced him again with another wave of his hand. "There is bad blood between the two and when Snow married King George's son, James, who apparently really isn't his son, but that is a different story, Regina was determined to destroy them the only way she knew how. By using your father's curse to bring them here to this land. Unbeknownst to her, your father put a certain spell on it that when Emma turned twenty-eight she would be able to break the curse because she was the product of True Love."

"So, Emma is from the Enchanted Forest? What the hell, Hook? Emma? What the hell, Hook?"

"Calm down and let me finish."

Neal began to pace his apartment, as Hook continued his tale.

"Apparently, Emma broke the curse before I met her in the Enchanted Forest. "

"I still want to know why the hell Emma was there of all places. Well, other than it seems that she if from there too, if your story is true." Somehow his father had to have done something to Emma, Henry and himself to make them all forget this. His father wouldn't have to worry about finding him again, Neal was going to hunt the man down himself to pay for this.

"I don't have the full details, only what I gleamed from conversation I overheard. Something about a soul-sucker and falling into a portal. Anyway, Cora, Regina's mother, helped me escape Regina's curse in exchange for us both finding a time to get back to Storybrooke with our memories so we could enact our plans."

Neal just had to interrupt again. "What plan did you have, Hook," he asked suspiciously.

Hook flushed. " I was to kill your father."

"Did you?"

"No."

Neal waved at him. He went to retrieve a beer, but turned and grabbed a bottle of whiskey off a nearby counter with a couple of glasses. "Continue your tale."

He walked over to Hook and sat down. Neal poured a liberal amount of the liquor into both glasses, before handing one to the pirate. "Here. I think we'll both need it before you finish."

"Thank you." Hook took the offered glass and swallowed a large amount before he continued. "Emma and her mother bested both Cora and I despite everything we had done and made it back to Storybrooke via the route we had planned to take. Luckily, I had absconded with a petrified bean from the giant's lair. Cora and I proceeded to Storybrooke. What happened there is irrelevant." Hook waved his arm dismissing the events.

"Another time?" Neal wanted to know, but he knew the pirate had to finish his tale.

"Definitely." Hook smirked back at him. "Your father brought Emma and Henry here when he discovered your location. She hadn't know until then that you were Rumplestiltskin's son and you hadn't known she was from the Enchanted Forest as well. I found a way here and tried to kill your father."

"Hook!" Neal stood up abruptly, spilling the whiskey in his glass that he had just refilled.

"I failed. Calm yourself. Your fiancé kidnapped me and brought me to Storybrooke, after Emma locked me up, and tied to help me achieve my goal."

"My fiancé wanted to kill my father?" Neal had been about to resettle on the couch, but went back to pacing his apartment, after placing his glass on the table. "Is that why I haven't been able to find her this past year? She ran off after what she did?"

"She died, mate." Hook stared at Neal, as he tried to take that in. "She died in Neverland. She and that guy she worked with kidnapped Henry and took him to Pan. They worked for him, but did not realize it until they got there. The Lost Boys killed them."

Neal was happy Hook decided to drown his glass and refill before he said anymore. It gave Neal a minute to process the fact that the woman he loved, the woman he almost married, tried to have his father killed, kidnapped his son, worked for the villainous Peter Pan, and died, all in a span of time that Neal had forgotten about. He had spent his last year searching for a woman who hadn't been worth his time. A woman, who if she wasn't already dead, he would have throttled himself.

"How did we get Henry back? How were we able to leave Neverland?"

"We thought you were dead. Emma saw Tamara shoot you and send you through a portal. Yes, mate, Emma thought she lost you again." Hook replied to Neal's questioning look. "Your father, Emma, her parents, Regina and I set sail to Neverland to save him. It took weeks, Dave… James…Charming…whatever, the bloody man's name is, almost died. He's Emma's father. You rescued Henry with your father after you recovered and found a way back to Neverland. When you get your memories back, mate, I'd love to hear that story."

Hook took another drink. Neal settled back into his chair, grabbed his glass and refilled it for the third time.

"Anyway, mate," Hook began again, "you lost him again after you realized your father had wanted to kill Henry."

Neal popped back out of his chair, his glass shattering upon impact when it touched the floor, whiskey spreading out from the shattered pieces. "My father wanted to kill Henry?"

"Apparently there was a prophecy. Sit down, mate, you're becoming a bloody jack-in-the-box."

"We all did get Henry back though? I know we did he's here with Emma." Neal tried to reason it all out in his mind, but his head throbbed with the overload of information.

"Yes. We learned Peter Pan was your grandfather. You, Emma and myself captured the Shadow and once we thought we had Pan contained in the box your father had, Regina mad the shadow fly us home to Storybrooke."

"We thought we had Pan contained?"

"Well, that one is a bloody tricky git. He switched bodies with Henry before your father captured him. Once Emma figured it out, we got Henry out and had your father return them to their rightful bodies. But Pan had already started enacting Regina's curse. Regina stopped I, but it was at the expense of everyone returning back to their original place of residence. You and Emma were supposed to return to the Enchanted Forest with the rest of us, but that would have left Henry here alone. Regina, who happens to be Henry's adopted mother, did not want him to be left alone, so she gave all three of you new memories, as the memories of Storybrooke would be wiped from your minds as if it never existed."

Neal glared at the pirate captain. "There is something you are leaving out. What is it?"

"Your father. He died. He killed his father, Peter Pan, to save us all."

"No," the cry was torn from Neal's throat. He may have disagreed with his father's ways, but to know the man had died, and while trying to save them, tore at his heart.

"He had to, Baelfire. It was the only way to destroy Pan once and for all." Hook stood and walked toward Neal. He dropped his arm on Neal's shoulders for comfort.

"How could I forget all of this?"

"Regina, like I said, mate, gave you new memories."

"Wait." Neal shrugged the pirate off. " Why are you really here and why can you remember?"

"When Regina destroyed the curse it wasn't to take our memories just return us home. There was a new curse and I was asked to retrieve Emma again."

"Why you?"

"It matters not. I must find Emma and convince her to return to Storybrooke."

"I'll help you as best I can, but she is one of the least trusting people I know. You have your work cut out for you."

"Don't I know it, however, I received a memory potion with my note. I have a plan, if it works, hopefully, I'll be able to save it for Henry." Hook winked at Neal.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **I apologize for the delay. After catching a really bad cold with a double ear infection I had to put a lot on the side and then catch up on it when I was better. One good thing is I thought of a better idea for the continuation of my story than I originally had. Thank you for your patience.

**Disclaimer: **I own none of these characters.

**Chapter 7**

"Apartment 311 is hers," Neal told Hook as he pointed him down the hall.

Hook glanced down the way. "You waiting here, mate?"

"I'll go grab a coffee. Get Emma to text me if she talks to you."

"Text," Hook asked confused, turning back to his only friend in this world.

"You don't have to understand. If she talks to you, just tell her to send me a text that she let you in. She'll understand." Neal began to turn away, when he froze. There was a man stepping from the elevator talking on a cell phone. "Damn. It's Walsh. I'll head him off."

"Walsh?" Hook looked the man over as Neal approached him.

"Walsh," Hook heard Neal call, "so glad to see you. Emma wasn't home. Just stopped by myself. Let's go grab a coffee. I'm late for work and you can tell me…" Hook never heard what Walsh was supposed to tell him as the elevator doors closed.

_ This was the man that Emma was courting with? _Even Hook had to admit Baelfire had a certain charm, but this git? _This was the man Emma chose in this new life?_

Hook turned and proceeded to Emma's apartment. He would finally see his Swan. He felt as nervous as a new naval recruit. There was music coming from inside her door, so she must be home, unlike the story Neal had told Walsh. Leaning toward the wood, Hook could barely make out the voices of Emma and Henry over the din of music.

Hook straightened and rapped on the door. The music was turned off before she answered. He couldn't help the smile that came to his face as he stared down at her visage. "Swan… At last," he breathed.

He could breath. This was his first unlabored breath in a year.

Emma seemed confused, like she had never seen him before, which was confirmed by her words, "Do I know you?"

"I need your help," he pleaded. "Something happened. Something terrible. Your family is in trouble."

She glared back at him. "My family is right here. Who are you?'

"An old friend," was the best explanation he could come up with at that moment. "I know you can't remember me, but…" Hook stepped forward and grasped her head in his hand. "I can make you."

It had to work. She had to still have a small piece of her old self in there that still loved him as he loved her.

He felt the pain in his groin before it registered what she did. She was pushing him back and away from her. _NO! _Hook crashed into the hallway wall, cupping his manhood from further assault.

"What are you doing?" He heard over the rushing of blood.

"A long shot," he grumbled around the pain, "but I had to try. I was hoping you felt as I did."

"All you are going to feel is the handcuffs when I call the cops."

Hook stands up despite the pain. She isn't going to listen to him at all if he doesn't stand up to her. "I know this seems crazy, but you have to listen to me."

She begins to shut the door in his face. "You have to remember," Hook finishes.

It hadn't worked. True Love's kiss had failed him. He stared at the closed door before him and sighed. He lowered his head and turned away from his only salvation. His one true meaning to become the man he once had been. Stiffening his resolve, he headed for the elevator. He and Neal would have to devise another plan to get Emma to realize the truth and return to Storybrooke.

When Hook reached Neal's apartment, Neal was on his way out. He must have noticed the dour look on Hook's face, because the first thing he said was, "Guess Plan A didn't work, huh?"

"No, mate. I will have to try to use the memory potion," Hook say with a deep sigh. He makes his way over the Neal's kitchenette and grabs the large bottle of rum Neal procured earlier. He took a long drink directly from the bottle, then wiped his mouth the with his sleeve.

"I'm heading out. Have a business meeting with some higher ups for lunch. I'll grab another bottle on the way home." Neal waved at the bottle Hook still had in his hand. "Looks like you might need it."

Hook glares at his friend. He plops down on Neal's couch and toes off his boots, then swung his leg up onto the couch in a reclined position. "It helps me think," Hook replied as he toasted Neal before taking another swig from the bottle.

"And forget," Hook continued sadly as Neal closed the door behind him.

Emma's day started off with some creep trying to kiss her and it didn't seem like it was going to get any better. She should have just stayed in bed. Shortly after Henry left for school, she received a call from her boss telling her that after all the work she had done, lasting a good day and a half, the precinct that she had done all the paperwork for the last perp she caught lost every last page. This, of course, meant that she wouldn't be getting payment for that job anytime soon. Then her landlord stopped by. He was happy to inform her that her last rent check had bounced and that if she did not send payment in the next two days, he would have to file an eviction notice. She had called Neal, who was in the middle of a meeting, but he had assured her that he would cover the rent payment until she could pay it back. Which meant that she had to stop at the bank and find out what was going on with her account. Apparently, after the latest data breach, they changed a lot of account numbers and she was getting a new debit card in the mail.

She informed them that didn't help with the automatic payment that she had needed to pay her rent, to which they did not seem to care. And now, she found herself on a freaking foot chase with her current perp.

It figures he was a young guy, so he was leading her on a merry chase. Young guys always thought they were so much smarter and made her play their merry games. _What the hell was up with that?_

As she runs, she hears her phone ring, ignoring the persistent chime. Emma sees the guy sneak down the alley, so she ducks inside the boutique store closest to her. As she sprints through, she tries to explain that she is a bail bonds person. Emma crashes through their back door. Apparently, her luck is changing, because the door catches the bail jumper and knocks him down. She handcuffs him, as she tries to catch her breath. If her luck holds, she might even be able to still meet Walsh for dinner tonight.

Hook looks around as he hears ringing. It sounded like one of those phone contraptions he was introduced to in Storybrooke. Everyone in this world seemed very attached to the devices. The chiming phone was slightly different from the one Neal and Dave had. It stopped making noise as Hook grabbed it. He was about to set it down again, when it chirped again. After a slight trial and error of pressing buttons, Hood heard Neal's voice.

"Sorry, Hook. Should have showed you how it worked," he heard Neal laugh.

"Yeah, mate, that might have helped," Hook said loudly into the slim black phone.

"Just calling to check up on you. You empty the bottle, yet?" Hook heard Neal chuckle. Looked like someone beside him found his way into his cups today.

"No. Too depressed to drink much," Hook replied as he stared at the bottle that had been barely touched for the last hour few hours.

"I bet. Emma will have forgotten the whole thing by morning. She's out with Walsh. According to Henry, he plans to ask her to marry him tonight."

"What?" Hook leaps off the couch. "Where? When?"

"At a restaurant, called Ostaria. That was the first place he took her on a date. It's not far from her apartment." Hook hears Neal ask someone what time it was. "Yeah, she was to meet him as of a few minutes ago."

"I have to go." Hook grabbed his discarded coat and boots, shoving the latter onto his feet.

"Don't do anything rash, Hook," he heard as he slammed out of Neal's apartment.

Hook watched Emma eat as gracefully as her namesake from behind the curtains leading to the outside patio of the restaurant. The lecher, Walsh, couldn't take his eyes off her either. Hook hadn't noticed a ring on her finger so either Walsh hadn't proposed yet, or she said no. Based on their expressions, Hook sincerely doubted the latter but hoped all the same.

He almost stormed to their table when he saw Walsh take her hand in his. When Walsh walked away, Hook couldn't stay away any longer. He plopped down in the chair Walsh vacated, clenching Tamara's address that Neal had given him the night before. It was the only Plan B that he could come up with. The only one that might actually get her to agree to take the memory potion. Neal had told him that in his grief he had left everything the way Tamara had left it. Including the camera that Henry must have left in his apartment and Tamara must have picked up. But Neal remembered that he had looked at those pictures and he had wondered where this Storybrooke was that he had seen Emma and Henry sitting down at a café. The name of the town painted on the building behind them. Neal said he had figured at the time that it was just someplace they visited before he had come back into their lives. But after Hook told him his tale, Neal told him of the picture. It was the only thing that might convince Emma to talk to him. To be convinced enough to drink the memory potion and help all the cursed people of Storybrooke.

As he approached her, he noticed she was on her cell phone. Maybe it would keep her distracted enough for him to tell her about her family. "Hang on. I'm just going to finish one quick work thing," she told him, before she looked up.

**Author's Note: **Yes, the rest of the scene is missing. I figured you can go and watch it unfold instead of me trying to do justice to it. Just replace the address of Neal's apartment with Tamara's and there you have it. Enjoy. Chapter 8, which I think will be the last chapter to my tale, should be up sometime this weekend, so long as I have a spare minute to finish the last scene and type it up.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **Well, this chapter ended up being broken into two. So there will be one more chapter after this one. I finally finished the story and should hopefully upload the next and final chapter in the next couple of days. A lot of scenes from this chapter come from episode 3x12. I may have changed them somewhat to fit my tale. I hope you don't mind me veering slightly from canon in order to continue my story. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **The characters and some of the scenes from this do not belong to me. I hope the Once Upon Time Family can forgive me.

**Chapter 8**

"Why didn't you tell me that was Tamara's address," Emma accused him as she approached. She was cranky enough, after tossing and turning most of the night. Her dreams filled with dinner with Walsh the night before. Only her dreams made the night end quite differently. Instead of looking up at Walsh after presenting her with a ring during dessert, it had been her leather-clad stalker. He rose and got down on one knee before her. Marry me, he pleaded. She grabbed him by his lapels and dragged his lips to hers in a devouring kiss before she had to come up for air. And when she did, she said yes, over and over, as she littered his stubbled face with tiny kisses.

Shaking herself out of the memories of the dream, Emma glared at the man before her. It was all his fault her mind was so tortured. Not just with the dreams of the night before, but with the discovery he lead her to Tamara's apartment where she discovered Henry's camera.

"I think the tone of your voice answers that quite clearly," Hook held his ground and stared at Emma. If he backed down now, she would sense his weakness and leave. "You never would have gone if I had."

"What does Neal have you up to? Is he trying to somehow find a way to get full custody? Tamara shouldn't even know about Henry. Neal must have set this up." Emma's eyes continued to challenge him. Apparently, she wanted answers he couldn't give.

"I already told you, I'm not here because of Neal. I am here because your parents are in trouble," Hook implored. "Their entire kingdom has been cursed. Ripped back to Storybrooke."

"What are you talking about?" she demanded. "My parents? Their kingdom? A curse? Do you know what you sound like?"

Hook could barely keep the sadness out of his voice, "Like a mad man, I'm sure." He paused. His Swan had lost all belief in him. "But it's true. You're parents need you. You're the only one who can save them. If you don't believe me at all why did you come here?"

He sees Emma reach inside her bag and pull out a strap with Henry's name on it. "Because Tamara has a camera with my son's name on it. How?"

Hook waves at the strap before she shoves it back in her bag. "Don't you see, that is proof of what I am saying. Henry must have left that in Neal's apartment when you were in New York last year. Tamara must have picked it up when she…" Hook thinks saying that she kidnapped him would not help his cause right now. "Well, when she brought me back to Storybrooke."

"Not good enough." Emma glares at him accusingly. "I want answers real ones."

She sees him compress his lips into a thin line. He reaches into his vest pocket and pull out something. "There is only one way you'll get those." He offers her a small blue bottle. "Drink this."

_ This certainly isn't Wonderland, buddy. And I'm no Alice. _"Drink the thing the crazy guy just offered me? No, thank you."

She sees him look at the bottle. "It will help you remember everything you've lost." He lowers it and looks at her imploringly. "If one small part of you senses that, don't you owe it to yourself to find out if I'm right? What do you say, love?" He looks down again, breaking their eye contact. Something a person who wasn't being honest would do. _Or someone who lost hope in the person before them_, the little voice inside her mind said. "Take a leap of faith. Give it a go."

Emma looks down at the bottle, than back at him, searching for some truth. He seems to believe everything he has said, so she isn't getting a sense that he is lying, but how could he be telling the truth? She looks back at the bottle clenched in his fingers adorned by old silver rings. This guy has so clue who he is trying to con, but even she must admit he is good. If she hadn't lived all her life in foster car, she might have just believed him. Emma reaches in her coat pocket and quietly pulls out her handcuffs. She latched one side around his outstretched wrist.

"Call me love one more time and you'll lose the other hand." She leans over and attaches the other handcuff to the park bench behind the man, with a weird feeling of déjà vu.

"Swan, what are you doing?"

"Making sure you never bother my son, or me, again." Emma backs slowly away. She gives a sharp whistle, signaling the two cops she had asked to wait earlier. "This is the one that assaulted me."

Emma continues to slowly back away as the two police officers retrieve the con man, who made her question herself.

"It was a kiss."

"There he confessed." _Like hell it was just a kiss. _It was firmly etched onto her lips and her memory.

"You're under arrest for assault and criminal harassment, sir," she heard the one named Anderson say to the man. "You have the right to remain silent."

She wished he would take the opportunity to do so, but he spoke over Anderson. "Swan, please. You're making a mistake. A terrible, terrible mistake.  
>Emma turns away. She doesn't want to hear anymore, but she does. "Swan!"<p>

That strange déjà vu that hit earlier returned.

"You're family needs you."

Emma needed to shake his words off. She needed to put the strange man out of her mind and get back to her life. The life where she was already confused enough with Walsh's proposal. _Why did everything have to happen at the same time?_ She wondered around the city for a good half hour before she found herself close to her local pharmacy. Reaching inside her bag, she withdrew the camera. She had to find out what the pictures on the camera contained. She walked in and arranged to pick the pictures up in an hour. Emma, panicked for a quick second when she realized what time it was. She was to meet Henry near school in the next five minutes. If she hurried she would only be a couple of minutes late. But she would have no choice but to bring Henry back with her when she came back for the pictures.

This brig was the worst he ever experienced and he had lived for close to three and a half centuries. They patted every inch of him down, relieving him of all his possessions, including his rings and earring. They flashed some contraption in his face, demanding he turn in different directions. They smashed his hand against some device, which he was told scanned his fingerprints. They even took his bloody satchel and spare _hand._

As if all that hadn't been torturous enough, they gave him a couple of slices of bread with some sort of meat and cheese in between. When he refused the slop, two of the officers came in his cell and one forced his mouth open and the other made him eat. They claimed it was something called bologna and American cheese. If Hook never had the swill again it would be too soon.

"Killian Jones," Hook heard someone call. "You've been released from your charges." The officer opened the metal gate and let him out. "You can collect your belongings up front."

Hook was never so relieved to see all his possessions. He swirled the blue bottle, ecstatic that they hadn't poured it out. Replacing all that he lost back upon his person, Hook strolled out of the 35th precinct securing his false appendage. He looks up, glad to once again see the clear blue sky.

"Hey." It sounded like Emma. He spots her down by the street grasping an envelope. He strolls towards her.

"We need to talk," Emma tells him. Whenever she said that in the past it hardly ever ended well.

"Swan," he replies approaching her cockily, hoping his bravado would get him through this conversation. "I knew you wouldn't let me rot in that cage. I've been in my fair share of brigs, but none as barbaric as that. They force-fed me something called bologna."

She holds out pictures to him. "What the hell are these?" She shows him a picture of her and Henry outside of Granny's. "We never lived in a town called Storybrooke. We never took a flight from Boston to New York. We never did any of this."

Hook looked at her hopefully. "So you believe me then?"

"I don't know. You could have Photoshopped these pictures."

Okay, he was well aware of pictures, but, "Photoshopped?"

"Faked."

"If you think these are forgeries, then why did you spring me from the brig?"

She looked as lost and confused as he felt, so he took the opportunity to keep pushing her for answers. She had to realize the truth. "Because as much as you deny it, deep down you know something's wrong. Deep down, you know I'm right."

"It's impossible," she denied. "How can I forget all of this?" She waved the picture3s she still held before replacing them back in their envelope.

"I promise you, there's an explanation."

"Not one that makes sense."

Hook reaches for the memory potion that the brig masters returned to him unscathed. He offers it to her for a second time that day. "If you drink this it will."

She looked down at the bottle. "If… If what you're saying is true. I have to give up my life here."

"It's all based on lies."

"It's real." Hook could hear the torment in her voice. "And it's pretty good. I have Henry. A job. A guy I love."

Hook felt as if she stabbed him in the heart. She had well and truly forgotten him over this past year and moved on. He couldn't look at her. It wasn't her fault any more than it was his, but it didn't make it hurt any less. He tried his best to compose himself. He had to get her to drink the potion, no matter his own personal stakes, but he couldn't help but plead his case. "Perhaps there is man that you love in the life that you lost."

He peeks back up at her. She seems so overwhelmed by all that's happened that even his latest statement made no impact. "Regardless, if you want to find the truth, drink up. Do you want to live a life of lies? You know this isn't right. Trust your guy, Swan. It will tell you what to do."

He saw her face soften. "Henry always says that."

_ Smart lad_. "Well then, if you won't listen to me, listen to your boy." He stares at her. Hook knows she is using her superpower to flash him out. She must have seemed satisfied because she looks back at the bottle before removing if from his hand. She tucked the envelope under her arm, before she looked at him again for some sort of reassurance. She removed the cork and drank. Hook let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding.

Emma is assaulted with memories. An image of Henry at her front door flashes to the forefront. Images of Storybrooke. Seeing Regina in front of her house. Fighting the dragon. Saving Henry with True Love's kiss. The purple fog bringing magic to Storybrooke. Seeing Mary-Margaret and David for the first time and realizing they were actually her parents. The soul-sucker attacking them at the police station. Losing Neal again after Tamara shot him and seeing him falling into a portal. Hook and her parents in the Echo Cave, looking on at her, love shining in all of their eyes. Watching Regina stopping Pan's curse from her rear-view mirror.

She felt dizzy with all the swirling emotions that pulled her in so many directions with each memory. Emma opened her eyes. She stared at Killian. "Hook!"

He gives her a big, mischievous grin. "Did you miss me?"

"What the hell?"

"You remember?" He leans in even closer.

"Everything." Emma shifts away from him. "I can't do this. I need time to think." Emma turns and began to walk away, but turns back. "Henry is going to his friends house at seven. Come about seven fifteen. We'll talk more then."

Emma walked away. He had to be the one to come back for her. As if her life wasn't complicated enough right now, she had to also confront forgotten feelings fro a man that she long denied feeling anything for even before Regina changed her memories.

Killian strolled into Neal's place jauntily whistling a pirate ditty.

"Someone is awfully chipper," he heard Neal call from the bedroom. "You finally get Emma to drink the memory potion?"

"Yes, mate. And she remembers everything."

Neal came out with a couple of suitcases in his hands. "Not so sure that's the best thing from the stories you told me, but it was the only way."

"Where are you going, mate?" Hook sat down on the couch and poured a drink from the bottle still on the living room table, where he left it the night before.

"Storybrooke."

"Care to elaborate? I thought we'd all be returning together."

Neal walked around the apartment gathering things, as Hook watched. " I need to find out if there is a way to find my father. I quit my job yesterday. I said family commitments were taking me out of the city for an extended period of time." Neal dropped an envelope next to Hook. "There's a copy of my apartment key on there and a couple hundred dollars. It should be enough to get you through until Emma is ready to leave."

"You're father died, Bae. We all saw him kill Pan to save us all. Do you really think there might be a way to bring him back? You still haven't even gotten your memories back yourself. You are just going on the knowledge I could give you." Hook picked up the envelope and peered inside before turning back to Neal.

"I have to try, just for that reason. He might be the only person to restore them."

"It's Storybrooke. Do you really think there may be a link there to your father? Belle might have had a better chance when she was in the Enchanted Forest."

"Well," Neal says as he finishes shoving things into his bags, "I guess I'll find out more when I get there, but until then I'm not giving up hope that I can somehow save my father."

Hook stands up. He walked over and clasped Baelfire on the shoulder. "Be careful. We don't know what this curse has done, nor who cast it."

"I will. You just get Emma to Storybrooke as soon as you can."

"You remember how to get there?"

"I think your map is pretty good and with all you told me I think I can find my father's shop."

Hook lets Neal gather his luggage. And watches him walk to the door. "Oh, and Hook…"

"Yes, mate?"

"Take care of her and my son."

Hook stared at the man who he once thought might be like his own child if things had turned out differently with Milah or on Neverland. "Like they were my own," Killian promised him, meaning each and every word.

Neal nodded and closed the door behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **I am sorry to see this end. Thank you for all of the follows and for the favorites. This was my first attempt at a fuller length fan fiction and I hope each and everyone one of you enjoyed it. I tried my best to write this in a way that at the end of it you could still watch the end of Season 3 and almost everything would still line up, just I wrote a different way of getting there. I would love to hear more feedback from people who have read the story, this way I can determine if I will continue to write more fan fiction based on Once Upon a Time. As I have other ideas already in progress but have yet to be finished. Once again, thank you everyone for enjoying this story and the support you have shown a newbie like me.

**Disclaimer: **I own none of these characters. I only borrowed them for a little while to go on the journey I had in my head. Some scenes are taken from 3x12 and some from 3x15, though the latter I adapted a little from canon as it happens in Storybrooke with just Neal and no Belle or Lumiere.

**Chapter 9:**

Hook arrived at Emma's apartment right at seven-fifteen if her hall clock was precise. She seemed out of sorts so he let her lead the conversation. He just hoped he didn't have to reveal too much of what happened before he arrived just yet.

"So, why did you leave the Enchanted Forest to go back to sea?"

"Frankly, I was bored," Hook lied hoping she didn't catch it, as he watched her retrieve two glasses and a bottle of liquor. " I had a life to get back to. A pirate's life." He watched her sit across from him and open the bottle her agitation evident, at least to him.

As she poured, she quipped, "Glad to see you haven't changed."

_ Aye, his life never changed. She hadn't changed him_. He reached for a glass. Libation was the only thing that was going to get him through this conversation. He decided to try for some truth, in light of the fact that she now looked him straight in the eye. "There wasn't anything for me in the Enchanted Forest. Why would I stay?"

He offered her his glass in a toast. She seemed slightly shocked by his revelation, but quickly composed herself. So he continued, "All was well until I got a message. A message saying there was a new curse." Hook leaned back and avoided eye contact until he mentioned the curse. "And everyone had been returned to Storybrook. The message told me that they only hope was you."

"You came all the way back here to save my family?"

She seemed incredulous at the suggestion, like he hadn't already saved her father's life on Neverland and helped her rescue her son, all at his own peril. Yet, she appeared aghast when he replied back, revealing his deepest feelings, "I came back to save you."

Her face showed a brief moment of fear, but once again, he saw her shore up her walls so that all these feelings could be hidden away from others. Right before she hid behind her glass, she asked, "Who could have done this?"

"Someone powerful enough to reach into this world."

"Anymore specific thoughts?" Her eyes shot an accusing glance his way, as if blaming him for the predicament they found themselves in. _If she looked at Henry this way, the young lad must get away with nothing_.

Killian shrugged. "Alas, you are the Savior, not me." He finishes his drink, relishing the smoothness in which it rolled down his throat.

Emma gave a brief, bitter laugh. "You know what I was yesterday? A mother. Until you showed up and started poking holes in everything I thought was real." She looked wistful. "When I drank that potion it was like waking up from a dream. A really good dream."

"You have what matters most, your son."

"Now I have to figure out how to explain this to him."

"Alas, I could only scavenge together enough for one dose of memory potion." He truly wished his first plan worked so that the memory potion could have been saved for Henry. Not for the young lad's sake, but for Emma's.

"I better start figuring out what I'm going to tell him."

The doorbell buzzed, startling both of them.

"Who's that?" inquired Hook.

"Walsh." Emma looked shattered. "Henry invited him."

Killian begins to stand so he could confront the buggar who dared steal the woman he had loved so deeply and lost once more. "I can get rid of him."

"No," she insisted, stopping him cold. "My memories might not be real but he is. So are the eight months we spent together." She rose to go to the door. "I owe him an explanation."

Hook rubs his chin. "What are you going to say to him?"

"I don't know." He looks over at her holding her coat. "But I care about him too much to drag him into all of this." She gave him the briefest of smiles. "Wait here," she said to him before she turned to go.

Killian's heart hurt. He rubbed his chest, disturbing the chain that rested there. He felt the steady pumping beneath his hand and he knew it still worked , but it didn't mean it was no less crushed by her admitted feelings for the man she went to meet. He had felt her torment through her words, yet it was no less than his own. He reached for the bottle she left behind and poured another drink, yearning for the ability to drink himself into a stupor. It was not the cards for him that night, however.

He took his glass and walked to Emma's window. Killian noticed the wire platform outside. Quickly, he made the decision to go out there and try his best not to imagine the conversation transpiring between Emma and Walsh at that very moment. He planned to stay there until Emma returned, but shouts from the rook made him rush inside. A strong breeze out of nowhere ruffled his hair while he climbed back in her apartment, though when he peered back out he saw nothing.

Hook ran for the door. He neither looked nor cared to see if it locked behind him. Deciding he could run faster than trying to wait for the lift, he sprinted for the stairs at the end of the hall. Two at a time, he rushed up to the roof.

"Swan," Killian called as he pushed through the door. Emma was standing by the edge of the building. "What in the blazes was that?"

She turned toward him. "A reminder, that I was never safe."

Killian melted at the look in her eyes, which held such sorrow. He felt partial responsible for not protecting her in the first place.

"What I wanted…What I thought I could have… is not in the cards for the Savior."

He looked at her imploringly, saddened by the fact that Emma must feel this way. Yet, he could see it strengthened her resolve to keep her walls firmly intact. His Swan had once again been hurt by someone she cared for and there wasn't a bloody thing he could do about it.

"We leave in the morning," she announced as she walked past him.

Despite whatever happened, and he resolved to find out, he had his Swan back. His fighter. His survivor. Tomorrow they would head to Storybrooke. Tonight he'd call Neal to tell him they were following behind him and prepare for their journey.

Neal arrived shortly after midnight to the town line of Storybrooke. As he drove into town it looked exactly how Hook had described it, when last he saw it. The strangeness of the town washed over him, not because it any different from any other town he visited, but he could feel the magical energy surround him. Despite its modern appearance it felt like home, the Enchanted Forest, before he left all those years ago. Yet, it wasn't there was not one connection for him here in this town for him to ever consider it such. Maybe when Emma and Henry arrived tomorrow it would begin to feel more like it. For home was somewhere you just missed it, and once that had been the Enchanted Forest, before his father decided power was more important than his son. Then it had been with the Darlings. Finally, for that short span of time he spent with Hook on his ship, before he found that picture of his mother and Hook turned him over to the lost boys. Now it was being with Henry and Emma. They were his family and his home now.

He drove his rented car straight his father's pawn shop. Belle would be at home asleep, whether that was under his father's roof or her father's, he didn't know. Neal got out and looked around at the town, taking in the quaint shops that his father had called home for almost 30 years. This could have been _their _home, or something just like it, if his father had followed him through the portal.

Neal walked behind the building and over to the back door of the shop. Pulling out his lock pick set, he set to work unlocking it. He stepped inside and turned on the lights. If he was going to find anything to brink back his father it would be in here. According to Hook, his father spent more time here than even his own house. Neal spotted a pile of books off to the side of the shop. There was a log book and pen laying atop them. Apparently, Belle was in the process of cataloguing the shop.

The bottom book drew his eye, but he continued to look around. However, he couldn't help but to continuously been drawn to that one particular book. After and hour of searching, Neal slumped against a somewhat empty wall. He was exhausted. He should probably just go to Granny's and get a room and wait until he could talk to Belle in the morning.

Neal stood up and stretched, but that book called to him again. He crossed the room and decided to inspect it. Carefully, arranging the books on top to the side, Neal flipped it open and discovered a key. "What the hell is this?"

Examining it, he barely noticed the green puff of smoke settling beside him. "Found the key, have we?"

"Who are you," Neal demanded turning to the woman.

"Does it matter? I can help you find your father."

Neal stared at the striking woman. She had reddish hair and blue eyes. Her attire resembled a school teacher from the early 20th century, but that had to be common for this town, seeing as everyone was for the most part from the Enchanted Forest, thus dressing in whatever attire suited them. She had to be a purveyor of magic or else she couldn't have just appeared in the shop, so Neal was not about to trust her.

"I can't _find_ him. He's dead." Neal watched her as she walked around the office space examining different items as she went.

"I can tell you how to get your father back."

"How?" Neal was never a trusting person to begin with, but after seeing what magic did to his father, and dealing with Pan on Neverland, he would take everything this woman said with a grain of salt.

"With that key, of course. It is the key to the vault of the Dark One." She turned toward him and gave him a smile that set goosebumps trickling across his flesh. "You'll find a place covered with snow just outside the woods. There is a clearing there near a farm house. It is there that you will find the final resting place of the Dark One."

"And why should I trust _you_?"

"You probably shouldn't, but I want your father back as much as you do. Maybe even more." She waved her hand at the key in his hand. "Use that key on the lock and he shall be restored to us both."

A puff of smoke surrounded her and she was gone. Neal did not think the witch was lying. He didn't know why, but he knew once she admitted she wanted Rumplestiltskin too that she was telling him the truth. That still did not mean she was reliable. Weighing the knowledge he had previously, with the knowledge the witch gave him, he decided to try his luck on the witch's tale. It was the only lead he had to getting his father back.

He pocketed the key and locked the pawn shop behind him. Neal didn't care if it was the middle of the night, nor that no one in Storybrooke knew he was there. He only cared about finding out how to save his father and bringing him back.

It had been a long drive back to Storybrooke, peppered with questions from an inquisitive Henry. It was a relief when the lad eventually tired and fell asleep in the back of Emma's car.

When they crossed the town line, Henry had been asleep for almost an hour. Emma seemed to withdraw further into herself the closer they approached. By the time Henry slept, Emma just sat in silence. They remained that way until they parked on the street near the town square.

They both exited the vehicle, Emma a little more reluctantly than Hook. He sees her look around. He had no reason to look. Other than Emma, he hand no attachment to the town and he knew what she'd find, though he himself had yet to step within the town lines of this "new" Storybrooke until now.

"It's really back," he hears her say as he rounds the car. "I'm really back."

"As quaint and homey as you remember?" he asks cockily.

"As cursed as I remember."

Hook finally takes a glance around, as Emma still stares shocked at the building surrounding them. Reaching behind him, he grabbed his hook and locked it back on his brace, relieved to finally be able to have use of it again. "That's more like it. Isn't, Swan?" He brushed a section of her hair with it, something he had wanted to do for the last several hours, if for no other reason than to comfort her.

"How are you going to explain that to him?" Emma draws his attention to Henry asleep in the car.

"Well, that's more your concern, but perhaps it will jog his memory."

"Or give him nightmares," she accuses. "Last time this curse took away everyone's memories, this time?"

Hook shook his head. "We don't know what it did."

"Then I'll find out. Stay here and watch Henry. Don't wake him or scare him. Or just let him sleep." Emma began to walk off away from him.

"Aye. Where are you going?" he inquires as he turned toward her.

She turned back to look at him, while she still walked. "To talk to my parents."

He watches her continue to walk away. He stood there amazed at her gumption. She was a resilient lass, he'd give her that, but she had a nasty habit of walking away from him. One day he was going to have enough. _Bloody buggaring hell_.

There was going to come a day when he wasn't going to let her walk away so easily. He would swing her around and demand to know why she could do it. Just walk away. _Every bloody time_. And she made it look like it was as easy as saying her name. Easy was the last thing he thought of when he left her side. It was bloody hard.

Maybe that was why she chained him up, he thought. So she would know exactly where to find him when she wanted to come back. It made sense knowing what he did of her background. Swan, his open book, just gained a few more pages of questions, that he was determined he was going to find the answers for.

Neal's hand burned and he buried it in the snow as he saw an inky liquid cover the manhole looking door his father was locked behind. The substance began to take shape and formed an outline of his father.

"Bae," his father called.

If Neal was a crying man, he would have wept at that moment. "Papa," he managed to get out before the pain of the burn caused him to pass out.

Rumplestiltskin was alive. His son had come for him, but he was sure Bae had no idea of the cost. Zelena appeared before him in a puff of green smoke, much akin to the sickly shade she had last been covered in when he had seen her years before.

"Poor Baelfire. Just couldn't learn from his father's mistakes. He wanted so badly to be reunited with his father. Couldn't see the forest, for the trees," she taunted him.

"You did this," Rumple accused pointing his daggar at her.. "You tricked him."

"All I did was pass on some vital information. Your son did the rest."

Rumple was furious. Never, even when he committed his worst crimes as the Dark One, did he ever feel such rage. "You didn't tell him the price."

Zelena just shrugged. "Oops." She smiled at him. "I would have thought it was rather obvious. A life for a life."

Baelfire began to stir in Rumple's arms. "It's going to be alright, son."

"I do doubt that."

Rumple clenched his son tighter to him. "I'm not going to let him go." He held out the daggar and sent out a protective spell that shielded the two of them from Zelena's magic.

"Sorry, Rumple. You can't hang on to both of them."

Rumple struggled to keep the shield, but he was too weak from his dark slumber. Finally, he relinquished the daggar, tossing it away.

"Wow. I didn't thin you had it in you," Zelena tells him as she retrieves the daggar and laughs.

Rumple gathered the last of his energy and sucked Baelfire's life force within himself. He shuddered from the combining life forces clashing within him. He felt his face changing from his own to Bae's and back to himself.

"You've go your son, but you've lost yourself."

The push and pull overwhelmed him and Rumple collapsed on the ground. He saw Zelena wave her hands and the ground around them changed. Instead of the frigid snow beneath his palms, was fresh straw over a concrete floor. He glanced up and around. He was in a small cell with nothing inside but straw and a spinning wheel, complete with matching stool.

"Welcome to your new home, Rumple. I do hope you find it quite satisfactory."

Emma could hear Killian moan from the room next door. He had acquired two rooms for them to stay at Granny's while things got sorted out, while she had been at her parents.

She had already been unable to sleep. She laid in bed, thoughts of who could have cast this new curse and erased a year of memories from everyone here, ran though her head. Emma glanced over at Henry to make sure he was still asleep when she heard the moan again. Henry had been fast asleep since before they crossed the town line, and barely stirred even when he was carried to bed by one Captain Hook.

She gave a quiet chuckle. Here poor Henry, with his altered memories, had no knowledge that Captain Hook was indeed real and the very man had gently put him to bed with as much care as a man would for his own son.

Next door, Hook still moaned. Emma silently got out of bed so as not to disturb Henry and snuck out of their room. As she approached Hook's door, she wondered what she might say. She lifted her hand to knock when she noticed the door was slightly ajar. Testing the knob, she found the door had been locked but not latched.

She was about to close it when Emma heard her name. She eased the door open and stepped inside.

"Emma. Emma, don't go. I love you, lass."

She wasn't shocked so much as in awe. Even in slumber, Killian stayed close to her. She smiled as she heard him say the words he had yet to utter when awake, "I love you, Swan. Stay."

If she didn't know any better she would swear he was awake, but he shifted in his sleep and settled when she began to whisper.

"I love you, too, Killian Jones. It just scares the hell out of me. About as much as it did to think that Henry died, but I can't stay. And I can't ask you to give up everything to live in my world. I can't let Henry, or myself, deal with the kind of pain living here entails. But, I do love you."

Emma turned back and left Killian's room, making sure she latched the door tightly behind her. Tears slipped from her eyes, racing their way down her cheeks. She would try to find out who created this new curse. She would even find a way to break it. But then, once then spell was broken, she would leave.

For as much as she loved the pirate, who slept in the room next door, she couldn't stay and endure loving someone again only to have them ripped from her. Emma closed her door behind her. It was late and she needed sleep or else she would barely function tomorrow morning when she was to meet with her parents again, reintroducing them to Henry.

Emma laid down and closed her eyes. Sleep came quickly, but it wasn't the deep dreamless sleep she had been aiming for. Instead, she smiled slumberously, as her dreams formed into a fairytale of her very own.

A beautiful princess, named Emma, stood next to her very regal parents, enjoying the view of her son Henry, a very princely boy ,enjoying his first ball. He danced and laughed among all the guests, including one and all in his circle. Emma was approached by a dashing, rapscallion of a pirate who her parents allowed into the kingdom for some personal business of her father's. He graciously asked her to dance and she smiled as she accepted is offer. She soon learned this pirate was troubled by his lust for revenge, but he promised that even though the very man he wished dead resided within her kingdom, he vowed to set all that aside, to enjoy her company. Before the night was over, he declared his undying love and begged her to marry him and live happily on his ship the Jolly Roger. So long as they were at sea, he would not give in to his anger and would love her until his dying breath. For, he told her, the love of a pirate was as deep as the ocean and as strong as the currents and as never ending as the tides.


End file.
